Getting there is half the fun!

 3/6 - 3/10/2022 - Red Bay, AL to Meridian, MS, 164 miles, Benchmark RV Park, 4 nights

3/10 - 3/14/2022 - Meridian, MS to Laurel, MS, 64 miles, Sleepy Hollow RV Park, 4 nights, $40.66/ night

3/14 - 3/22/2022 - Laurel, MS to Gulfport/Biloxi, MS, 8 nights, $420/wk + $71

We finished our RV maintenance a week earlier than anticipated in Red Bay, so we chose our day to leave, according to the weather (Bill hates driving in rain and wind), and went south through Mississippi. We stopped in Meridian to let the storms pass.  I didn’t explore much of downtown, but there was an historic train station and an Arts and Entertainment Museum, called the MAX, that looked worthy of exploring. We stayed closer to home and checked out the various flea markets/antique shops.  But the real star of this leg of the trip was Laurel, MS. 

I am a huge fan of the show, Hometown, on HGTV, and when I saw the opportunity to visit and see the renovated houses, I planned a few day’s stay. The first day we arrived, we went to the Scotsman woodworking shop and Laurel Mercantile, and got a map of things to see and do in town. Thankfully, the kind gentleman told me about the walking tour of the historic part of town that started from the Lauren Rogers Museum.  There is so much more to this town than the show!

The director of the museum was our knowledgeable guide. We strolled up one side of the road and down the other as he told us about the people who built these grand homes. 

Laurel was founded in 1883, when the railroad finally reached Laurel and made it possible to log the pine forests.  It became known as the Yellow Pine Capitol of the World and grew quickly as several sawmills were established by mid-west families. The first family to arrive, the Eastman-Gardiners, set the standards for those who would follow. They paid their employees in cash instead of company tokens so they could spend their money anywhere they chose. They wanted their employees to have high school educations, so they circumvented Mississippi law and created a vocational school for their black employees. 

Lauren Rogers was the only son, and heir-apparent to the business. But he died of complications from an appendectomy at the age of 23.  So the plot of land where he was building a house for his new bride became the library/museum that would never charge admission, so everyone could afford to visit. These families were part of the Guilded Age, so they expected THE BEST materials and craftsmanship on all they built, and it shows in the FLWright-Esque leaded glass, Tiffany lamps, and marble imported from Italy. There was also a large middle class. They were the ones who built the gorgeous cottages with porches that everyone wants today.

Contributing to Laurel’s success was the invention of the Linsey wagon - an eight-wheeled wagon that allowed logs to be hauled out of the forest, and a new invention called Masonite, made from the saw dust and bits and pieces left from the sawmills.  The Masonite company is still operating today, along with Sanderson Farms and Howard Industries that keep the economy going strong. Also, Leontyne Price, a Juliard-trained opera singer, is from Laurel, and Frank Gardiner Wisner, one of the founding directors of the CIA, was born there. 

We finally reached the beach at Gulfport/Biloxi, MS, on Monday.  I’m happily walking the boardwalk every morning and enjoying the beautiful sunsets every evening.